Nilay Kar
October 30, 2015•Update: October 31, 2015
CANAKKALE, Turkey
Four children died after a boat carrying Syrian refugees sank in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's western Canakkale coast early Friday, Turkish Coast Guard said.
The incident occurred off Ayvacik district when a fiber boat packed with Syrians, including women was sailing towards the Greek island of Lesbos, it said.
Nineteen people were rescued, while the bodies of four children, aged between four and one, were recovered, it added.
Thousands of refugees and asylum seekers are still trying to find a passage to western European countries through the Greek islands – the main entry point from the war-stricken Middle East.
At least 3,138 refugees, including the 291 in the Aegean Sea, have died while crossing the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, according to International Organization for Migration (IOM).
According to the UN Refugee Agency, the total number of arrivals in 2015 so far in Europe via the Mediterranean is now over 643,000.
The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 340 refugees over a 24-hour period, the military said Thursday. The refugees were found on boats off the Turkey’s western coast of Izmir, Aydin, Mersin and Mugla provinces, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on its website.
